India beat New Zealand by 8 wickets, lead series 2-0

NEW DELHI: India’s stand-in-skipper Gautam Gambhir slammed a brilliant unbeaten century to steer India to a commanding eight wicket victory over New Zealand in the second ODI at Jaipur.

Now India lead the five match ODI series 2-0.

After the loss of opener Murali Vijay, dangerous looking Gambhir along with Virat Kohli started hammering the Kiwi bowlers all over the park and put a valuable 116-run stand for the second wicket. Later on, the skipper’s blistering 50-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh sailed India to easy victory.

Gambhir’s swashbuckling knock came with the help of 18 scintilating boundaries.

Chasing 259-run target, Gambhir and Vijay made a cautious start as both of them put 87-run stand for the first wicket.

Earlier, opting to field after the coin landed in his favour, the Gautam Gambhir-led India rode on S Sreesanth’s four wickets to restrict the Kiwis to a manageable target after Styris and Daniel Vettori threatened to take the match away from India with a crucial half-century stand at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Sreesanth’s wickets included opener Jamie How, Styris, Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills. Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan and Ravichandran Ashwin took a wicket each even as opener Martin Guptill played the sheet-anchor’s role to perfection.(Agencies)